I guess it's a good job most people are right side dominant, and in a face to face slogging match are most likely to hit your left side as they strike from their right. Which kind of leads onto the possible conclusion that we should train more to deliver power from the left side to an opponent's right side if we want to be better able to end a fight quickly. It also follows then that there's a fundamental flaw in the way karate and similar styles are often taught, where the default fighting stance unless told otherwise in drill, is usually left leg forward ready to stun, distract or block with the left, while delivering power from the right.

It also follows then that there's a fundamental flaw in the way karate and similar styles are often taught, where the default fighting stance unless told otherwise in drill, is usually left leg forward ready to stun, distract or block with the left, while delivering power from the right.

On the other hand, if your liver is on the right side of your body, having your left leg forward keeps your liver further away from your opponent and more protected.

It also follows then that there's a fundamental flaw in the way karate and similar styles are often taught, where the default fighting stance unless told otherwise in drill, is usually left leg forward ready to stun, distract or block with the left, while delivering power from the right.

Maybe in the Karate you have practiced, but that's not the case for the Karate I have done. Isn't the strategy you are mentioning more of a point sparring thing anyway? I've seen it taught before but not really in a traditional martial arts or combat sports context.

When training boxing 20 or so years ago, I took a body shot which dropped me … and I vividly remember thinking, “I wish that had been in the head so I didn’t have to feel this” :-)

On the aside topic of which side forward when fighting (formal squared off stances having nothing to do with self-protection), I think that has little to do with the liver. I also think it has little to do with blocking either because the lead hand “windshield wiper” blocking is predominantly used in points karate … where you can’t achieve the stated objective by dropping people with a liver shot. You don’t see it in other striking formats; and personally, I don’t care for it either. It’s to do with which hand is dominant; and that’s all.

In a striking format, people tend to have their dominant hand back. This is done to align natural strengths with technical strengths i.e. put your strongest arm in the position where it can deliver the stronger punches. Being to the back, the hand has more space to build up momentum.

Right-handed strikers have their right hand back. Left-hands strikers have their right hand back. Accessibility of the liver is not considered because the advantages of having the “power hand” in a powerful position outweighs all else.

Incidentally, it’s different for grapplers (wrestlers, judoka, etc) because it is more advantageous for them to have their dominant hand forward (the first to engage). So righthanded grapplers generally have their right hand forward, and lefthanded grapplers generally have their left hand forward.

Anf wrote:

...where the default fighting stance unless told otherwise in drill, is usually left leg forward …

While some karate group may make the assumptions that everyone is righthanded, and train accordingly; many don’t. We drill most things on both sides and lefthanded people are encouraged to train and fight as lefthanded people. That’s pretty much how I’ve always been taught too.

On the aside topic of which side forward when fighting (formal squared off stances having nothing to do with self-protection), I think that has little to do with the liver.

Agreed.

Whether it's karate kumite, boxing, or whatever striking sport, the athletes tend to have a "dominant" stance each one prefers; most are standard, and a few are "southpaw". Nothing to do with the liver per se. I don't think they do this in boxing, but I know that many kumite coaches and athletes try to focus on being "ambidextrous" where the athlete can, as much as possible, fight equally well on either "side".

For self protection, I think it behoves us to train both sides, because in the split-second of an attack when we need to defend ourselves, we need to not have to bother with switching stances. Heck, we might not even be standing! Of course, focusing on a left-hand liver-shot in practice might be a good idea.